Suddenly, Wen Bai was yanked backward with great force, his small face disappearing from his sight.
Wen Bai couldn't even resist before being dragged out of the small space.
After being dragged out by his legs, Wen Bai was picked up by a man and carried out from behind the curtain.
Wen Bai, now conscious but still dazed, felt a sharp object pressed against his waist and his hands bound behind his back.
"Don't scream. If you dare to scream, I'll stab you with this knife..."
Wen Bai realized then that the man appeared huge, making himself seem minuscule in comparison.
Was this a world of giants where all sorts of species existed?
Wen Bai felt his current body lacked much strength.
"System 001," Wen Bai called out mentally.
There was no reply.
He had no choice but to maintain an innocent demeanor as he was lifted and placed on the ground.
After setting Wen Bai down, the man raised the knife in his hand and gestured menacingly.
Unexpectedly, Wen Bai exerted force, sprang up, and stood instantly.
Then, with incredible speed, he twisted his bound hands over his head and reached back. Before the man could react, the knife in his hand sliced Wen Bai's tender little hand.
Of course, it also cut the rope binding his hands.
The man seemed to have never encountered someone so ruthless, daring to charge directly at his knife...
He had only intended to scare the child and planned to sell him for money!
Wen Bai's small body leaped up, and in the moment of the man's shock, he snatched the knife, clung to the man's body, and without hesitation, plunged the knife into his neck...
Before the man could make a sound, he clutched his neck, his face a mask of astonishment as he collapsed.
His pupils were wide, as if he couldn't believe, filled with extreme unwillingness, that his life had ended like this, at the hands of a child half his height.
Wen Bai's swift actions seemed to have exhausted all his strength. A dull ache throbbed in his chest.
He struggled with his small arms and legs to roll off the giant, tumbling to the side and landing on the ground, gasping for breath.
The horse carriage curtain was blown by the wind, and a small face peeked through the gap, witnessing the scene.
Another small face was pressed against the carriage window, secretly looking out.
Wen Bai looked at his own hand, then at his legs. He compared himself to the man on the ground, who was still twitching but not yet dead.
He realized something was wrong.
The other party was not a giant at all; he had shrunk.
His palms were tiny, his legs short. This was clearly the body of a child.
"System 001, what's going on?" Wen Bai asked System 001 in his mind, his expressionless.
System 001 made a crackling sound.
After a moment, System 001 replied, "Host, I was just dealing with the system that was pursuing us, trying to track our whereabouts."
Wen Bai patted the mud off himself and stood up.
Given the danger just moments ago, if he had waited for System 001...
Wen Bai might have had to move to the next world directly with System 001.
Wen Bai looked around.
It was a rural courtyard. The carriage was parked inside, next to a simple horse shelter where several horses were tied.
The houses were thatched huts, four in a row. Not too far away, there were several similar dwellings.
Loud snoring emanated from inside one of the houses.
Someone was sleeping inside.
"Host, your current identity is Wen Bai, the eldest son of the wealthy merchant family, the Wen family. You went out with your servants today, and while playing hide-and-seek with them, you were targeted and kidnapped by child traffickers."
System 001 didn't rush to explain the situation of this world but addressed the most pressing issue for Wen Bai: "The man in front of you, ah, this dead man, is one of the kidnappers. There are three of them in total, all men. This one was guarding you here, one is still sleeping inside, and the third has gone out to buy things."
Remembering something, Wen Bai walked directly towards the carriage.
System 001 continued, "Host, these kidnappers have already arranged for a buyer today. They are already in the process of packing you 'goods' to send to the buyer. So, Host, you need to escape first. Before that..."
Wen Bai's breathing had already calmed. His hair was extremely messy, with stray strands blowing into his face.
He realized then that his hair was also very long. He saw that the man on the ground also had long hair, as well as his clothing.
Wen Bai's own attire consisted of long-sleeved, wide robes, and the carriage was a horse-drawn one.
It seemed this world had not yet developed to a technologically advanced modern era.
He extended his small hand and, not gently, yanked his hair together, roughly brushing it aside. A smudge of blood from the deceased man stained his face.
Wen Bai had now reached the carriage. He stood on tiptoe but couldn't reach it. He had to hop onto the carriage shaft to climb up.
Because of his extreme shortness, the climb was very strenuous.
Wen Bai climbed onto the carriage shaft, his heart pounding like a drum.
He took a deep breath and lifted the curtain.
It wasn't his imagination.
This time, in the bright light after lifting the curtain, Wen Bai saw a face that bore an eight or nine-tenths resemblance to his own.
Besides this child, there were several other children around four or five years old inside.
Wen Bai stood on the carriage shaft and asked System 001, "Who is he?"
System 001 paused its explanation and replied to Wen Bai, "Host, he is your nominal younger brother, but in reality, he is a child your mother found. He miraculously looks very much like you. Honestly, if I didn't know the plot, I would think you were twin brothers born of the same mother."
At this moment, the thunderous snoring from the thatched hut had stopped.
Movement could be heard from inside.
Wen Bai was now facing a very serious problem: "I don't know how to drive a carriage."
System 001: "Host, leave it to me!"
A man's voice sounded from inside the house: "Second brother, have those little brats been packed? Has the third one not returned yet?"
As he spoke, the man emerged.
At the same time, Wen Bai's small body was already sitting on the front carriage shaft, his back pressed against the carriage door. His small feet were firmly planted on the carriage floor, and he clutched the thick, long reins in his palm.
System 001 exclaimed excitedly, "Yes, Host, just like that! Get ready~ Go!"
The horse raised its front hooves high and neighed. The carriage wheels rolled back half a turn, and then the horse shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Wen Bai's small body couldn't control itself. He first pitched forward, desperately grabbing the carriage door frame...
Then he fell backward, a small ball rolling into the carriage curtain.